Researchers concluded that even a contained nuclear conflict would take a toll on Earth’s oceans and potentially disrupt the human food web. “The impacts are huge,” a scientist said. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/study-toll-of-nuclear-war-earths-oceans…
Tag: corals
Palau is First Country To Ban ‘Reef Toxic’ Sun Cream
The Pacific nation of Palau has become the first country to ban sun cream that is harmful to corals and sea life. From a report: From Wednesday, sun cream that includes common ingredients, including oxybenzone, is not allowed to be worn or sold in the country. Palau’s President Tommy Remengesau said: “We have to live and respect the environment because the…
Researchers describe 71 new species in 2019
New species from 5 continents and 3 oceans include geckos, goblin spiders, flowering plants, and Mediterranean ants. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/new-species-discovered-in-2019…
Can We Save Coral Reefs Using Underwater Loudspeakers?
“The desperate search for ways to help the world’s coral reefs rebound from the devastating effects of climate change has given rise to some radical solutions,” reports the Washington Post. There’s coral “nurseries” in the Caribbean, while Hawaiian scientists are trying to breed a new and more resilient type of coral. But at least one team focused on the herbivorous fish…
Some Corals Grow After ‘Fatal’ Warming
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Phys.Org: For the first time ever, scientists have found corals that were thought to have been killed by heat stress have recovered, a glimmer of hope for the world’s climate change-threatened reefs. The chance discovery, made by Diego K. Kersting from the Freie University of Berlin and the University of Barcelona during diving expeditions…
Some corals ‘killed’ by climate change are now returning to life
Warm water can leave corals looking dead – but in some cases polyps still survive deep in the coral skeleton and in time they can return the coral to life Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2219405-some-corals-killed-by-climate-change-are-now-returning-to-life/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Volcanic eruption creates moveable islands of pumice
Last month, rafts of pumice, spewed from an undersea volcano and spanning an area about the size of Washington, D.C., appeared in the South Pacific. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/pumice-islands-volcanic-eruption…
Coral reefs are now spawning out of sync and might fail to reproduce
Corals need to spawn within minutes of each other to optimise reproduction – but climate change is causing them to spawn out of sync, threatening their survival Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2215524-coral-reefs-are-now-spawning-out-of-sync-and-might-fail-to-reproduce/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
New 60-Mile Pumice Raft Could Help Restore Australia’s Great Barrier Reef
“A huge raft of pumice created by an underwater volcano is floating toward Australia, and it could help the Great Barrier Reef recover from bleaching,” reports Weather.com: The pumice raft is about 60 square miles — almost as big as Washington D.C. Scientists say it was formed earlier this month by an underwater volcano near Tonga, some 2,000 miles east of…
Increasingly Frequent Marine Heatwaves Can Kill Coral Almost Instantly, Study Finds
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the BBC: Increasingly frequent marine heatwaves can lead to the almost instant death of corals, scientists working on the Great Barrier Reef have found. These episodes of unusually high water temperatures are — like heatwaves on land — associated with climate change. Scientists studying coral after a heat event discovered that extreme temperature rises…